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Weeks projected to return Sunday

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By AJ Cassavell
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MLB.com |

PHOENIX -- Sunday is still Jemile Weeks' projected return date, but A's manager Bob Melvin isn't planning on rushing his second baseman back into action.

Weeks bruised his right shoulder last Friday attempting to turn a double play. X-rays were negative, but he is still having enough trouble throwing and swinging from the right side to warrant a bit more rest.

"We're still kind of hopefully targeting Sunday," Melvin said. "But we're certainly not putting any pressure on him to do that. It's what we thought yesterday, and I wouldn't say that we're off that yet. [Sunday] is probably the earliest."

Weeks is in the thick of a tight second base competition with Scott Sizemore, who returned from a bruised hand on Tuesday, and Jed Lowrie, an interesting option because of his ability to play every infield position. Though he played the majority of the club's games at second last year, Weeks slumped to a .221 batting average.

Melvin said the competition could come down to the very end of camp.

"There's more that goes into it than just 'OK who is playing second base?'" Melvin said. "It might be who's playing second base against a righty? There are a lot of things that could potentially play into it due to the flexibility that we have."

AJ Cassavell is a reporter for MLB.com Follow him on Twitter @ajcassavell. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.